tour de force

American  

[toor duh fawrs, -fohrs, toor duh fawrs] / ˌtʊər də ˈfɔrs, -ˈfoʊrs, tur də ˈfɔrs /

noun

tours de force plural

1. an exceptional achievement by an artist, author, or the like, that is unlikely to be equaled by that person or anyone else; stroke of genius.

   Herman Melville's Moby Dick was a tour de force.

2. a particularly adroit maneuver or technique in handling a difficult situation.

   The way the president got his bill through the Senate was a tour de force.

3. a feat requiring unusual strength, skill, or ingenuity.

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tour de force British  

/ ˈtʊə də ˈfɔːs, tur də fɔrs /

noun

1. a masterly or brilliant stroke, creation, effect, or accomplishment

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tour de force Cultural  

1. A feat accomplished through great skill and ability: “The speech was a tour de force; it swept the audience off its feet.”

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• tours de force
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tour de force

1795–1805; < French: feat of strength or skill

Example Sentences

The victory over the three-time Champions League winners, who are sitting pretty atop Serie A, continued Bodo's surprise tour de force in the competition.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

Her history of Kleenex tissues is a tour de force: We learn that the Kimberly-Clark Corp., which owns Kleenex, played on the fear that reusable handkerchiefs were essentially wads of tuberculosis germs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

David Galperin, head of contemporary art at Sotheby's New York, said: "America is Maurizio Cattelan's tour de force."

From BBC • Oct. 31, 2025

But he didn’t stop there, offering an analysis of judicial precedent that was a moral tour de force.

From Salon • Sep. 4, 2025

Its rolling periods, its fine orotundities, its balanced pairs, and its vivid sense of how history pivoted on this moment, on these men ... it was a tour de force.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith